Facebook reports Q4 financial earnings, revenue up, profit down

Facebook reported their fourth quarter financial results today. For the fourth quarter, Facebook saw increased revenues, yet experienced decreased profits. Part of the reason profits were down is the amount of investing that Facebook is doing to build an empire and plan for the long-run.

Revenue was up to $1.59 billion, a 40 percent increase from last year. Wall Street estimates had placed revenue at $1.52 billion, so Facebook performed better-than-expected. Revenue, however, was down 79 percent from last year as a result of increased investment spending.

"2012 was a big year for us," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO on Wednesday's earnings call with analysts and journalists. "There are now more people using Facebook on mobile every day than on desktop."

Facebook's monthly active users climbed to 1.06 billion by the end of 2012. Facebook drew in an average of 618 million daily active users in December 2012. Costs and expenses were up 82 percent from Q4 2011 to $1.06 billion.